Dallas Jenkins: The Chosen is ultimately a very intimate story, and we’re never going to get to a place where we do it like a sword and sandals epic, where it’s battle sequences and everything’s big. Even in our big sets, it’s ultimately about people and about relationships. 

The Life Story of Jesus: Dallas Jenkins & The Cast of “The Chosen” – Episode #442 

Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. The beloved historical drama television series The Chosen has burst onto the scene with its real, raw, and accurate depiction of the life of Jesus. As the first multi-season series about the life and ministry of Jesus, the show focuses on the people who met and followed Him, giving viewers a personal perspective through the eyes of those who knew Him—bringing out an emotional, personal, and intimate side of the life of Christ.

This week, we’re joined by the creative mind who brought The Chosen to life, Dallas Jenkins. Accompanying him are actors and actresses Elizabeth Tabish, Paras Patel, Shahar Isaac, Abe Bueno-Jallad, and Jonathan Roumie—who each share what it means to them to be able to portray these iconic characters, and how they work together as a team to lift each other up in telling this important story.

Let’s begin with the creator, writer, and producer of the show, Dallas Jenkins. 

Dallas Jenkins: I’m Dallas Jenkins, and I’m primarily known as being the creator of The Chosen. I’m also the founding member of 5&2 Studios, which is the production company that does The Chosen and other Bible projects. I’m also the director of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the feature film that came out not too long ago, so I’m ultimately a storyteller.  

When I first started making films, it was considered pretty uncool to be called a Christian filmmaker or to make Christian films. The vast majority of them were bad, some of them were embarrassing. My calling, I felt like, was to just make good films and try to infuse some sort of good message into them. 

I was mowing my lawn one day and praying and just thinking through my career, and I just felt so strongly and powerfully God putting it on my heart, “I want you to make films and tell stories about me.” And I said, “Well, I don’t really want to do that. They’re so bad.” And He said, “Well, make good ones.” And I’m like, “Oh, I hadn’t really thought about that.” And so in that moment, I really felt a calling. I felt a strong word from God to stop apologizing, stop being embarrassed, and just make the stories that you really want to make. And [He said], “I do want you to point people to Me.”

I used to be someone who really did care about what people thought of me. I think narcissism was one of my vices, and I cared about what people thought. I would hit the refresh button online to see the numbers coming in for whatever project that I had released. I really did say to myself, and to God, “Okay, I’m willing to give all this up. I truly care more about being in Your will and doing what You want me to do than I care about achieving anything or getting certain affirmation.” And so I gave all that up, and that became a superpower. That led to telling stories without worrying about how they would come across or worrying about what genre they would fall into. And that ultimately, of course, led to The Chosen. 

“I really did say to myself, and to God, ‘Okay, I’m willing to give all this up. I truly care more about being in Your will and doing what You want me to do than I care about achieving anything or getting certain affirmation.’” – Dallas Jenkins

My vision or my hope is that I’m making the best show that I can that honors God and accurately captures the character and intentions of Jesus in the Gospels. 

“My hope is that I’m making the best show that I can that honors God and accurately captures the character and intentions of Jesus in the Gospels.” – Dallas Jenkins 

Weighing In On Portraying The Chosen‘s Biblical Characters

Paras Patel: Hi, I’m Paras Patel, and I play Matthew on The Chosen.

Elizabeth Tabish: Hello, I’m Elizabeth Tabish, and I play Mary Magdalene on The Chosen.  

Paras:  You know, just initially, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know if I would be able to fulfill this kind of role. I just remember putting myself into it and putting my all into it, kind of developing Matthew into his character as well as just wanting to really be the light for the neurodivergent community and letting everyone feel like they have a space here and that they belong. And I think that’s what Matthew’s essence is showing, that we all belong. Anyone can relate to not feeling validated or feeling ignored or not feeling like they’re good enough. So I think that’s why he speaks to so many. That’s how I’m able to tell the story more effectively. 

Elizabeth: If you look at the Gospels, there are women at really pivotal moments of Jesus’s ministry. The first person that He reveals who He is is the woman at the well. It’s the women who stay at the cross. It’s the women who are there at the empty tomb. There are so many really meaningful moments that I think Jesus had so much respect and love for all people. So that, of course, included women. And the way the show has depicted that has been beautiful. There are wives, sisters, mothers, but also business women. I mean, for Mary Magdalene’s story to depict a woman who’s struggling with addiction and PTSD and to show the path to recovery and joy is really important. I think there’s so many tender moments throughout this show. It’s hard not to cry. I would say that it’s really hard not to.

“If you look at the Gospels, there are women at really pivotal moments of Jesus’s ministry.” – Elizabeth Tabish

Paras: And it’s getting harder because we’re so close. So we’re building on that. We’re just more emotional, I guess, and just more connected, too. I think we just have this intuition with one another. We know how to check in with each other, inside and outside of the set. So we just know what each person requires, I guess.  

Elizabeth: Yeah. And there are certain seasons where some actors have really heavy loads to carry. I have noticed a very special care to take care of each other from the entire cast. It’s not just, you know…

Paras: …because everyone wants to see each other at their best, and we’re all doing our best. So we have that big support here. 

Dallas: From the beginning, on day one of writing six years ago when I was in my basement, we put up a word on the wall on a big white piece of paper and it just said, “Authentic.” Everything that we did, we wanted to be as authentic as possible.  

One of the reasons why we don’t call ourselves a religious show—and one of the reasons why I don’t actually struggle to walk that line between historical drama and religion—is because we’re telling the stories of Jesus. And how people react to that, or whether they do react or not, or whether they believe or not, it’s really not up to me. I’m just focused on being as accurate to the history, to the culture, to the context, and to the person of Jesus as I possibly can.  

I think the historical and cultural accuracy has been a huge reason why it’s taken on a life of its own in some of these countries that would traditionally be resistant to it. The show takes on a life of its own because the people who are watching it are telling other people so passionately [about it] that we are trying to keep up with it. And that’s been the challenge and blessing of this show. The challenge is we don’t have the kind of money to create a big, huge, marketing frenzy ourselves. The blessing has been people seem to be doing that for us, and that’s been the most fun [thing] about it.  

Narrator: Stay tuned to hear more from Dallas Jenkins and The Chosen cast after a brief message.

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Jesus Listens 

If your days feel overwhelming, or life has you anxious and stressed, you can find peace and hope with Jesus Listens. Written by bestselling author Sarah Young, Jesus Listens contains 365 heartfelt prayers based on scripture. Whether it serves as your only prayer for the day or simply to jumpstart your own prayers, Jesus Listens empowers you to connect daily with God. It’s such a blessing to know that Jesus hears every one of our prayers.

Gift Jesus Listens to anyone struggling to feel God’s presence, or use it to establish your own consistent prayer practice. Let Sarah’s words and her Bible verse references enrich your life and your relationship with God. To learn more about Jesus Listens and download a free sample, please visit www.jesuscalling.com/jesuslistens. 

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Thanks for staying with us. Let’s continue our conversation with Dallas Jenkins and the cast of The Chosen. 

Jonathan Roumie on What It Means to Portray Jesus on Film

Jonathan Roumie: Hi, my name is Jonathan Roumie, and I play Jesus Christ in The Chosen TV series.

I was going through some of my darkest times, where I was basically struggling for eight years. I had been trying to hustle several different side gigs. And I got to the point where I woke up one morning and I was completely broke. I was negative in my bank account, and I was out of food. I didn’t have food for the next day. And I knew the only thing that I had left to do—which I really hadn’t done—was to get on my knees and completely and wholly surrender myself, my career, my circumstances, to God. I never really gave Him control of my career. I always kind of held on to the things that I thought I was in charge of, and that He would work on the rest of my life. And then I realized, I can’t anymore. I’ve got no other option.  

“I knew the only thing that I had left to do—which I really hadn’t done—was to get on my knees and completely and wholly surrender myself, my career, my circumstances, to God.” – Jonathan Roumie 

And when I did that, I received a financial miracle hours after I made that prayer. That became a watershed moment in my life, the turning point in my life where I turned everything over. And then three months later, I booked this show. And it’s just never been the same since.  

I talked about what I was feeling with Dallas, our creator, and he reminded me in that moment—because I was kind of overwhelmed and I was kind of having a little bit of a moment of panic—that God chose the two of us to bring this story forward. I mean, in addition to all the myriad of artisans and craftsmen and cast. But playing Jesus, there’s a reason that God put me in this role and not somebody else. And so I had to recognize that and take up that mantle and know that I was where I was meant to be. 

“Playing Jesus, there’s a reason that God put me in this role and not somebody else. And so I had to recognize that and take up that mantle and know that I was where I was meant to be.” – Jonathan Roumie 

Dallas: I discovered Jonathan in his audition for Jesus ten years ago. And he was extraordinary. So when the opportunity to do the show came around, he was the first person cast because we already had evidence of how amazing he was at this role. And the others, we worked through casting directors and agents all over the world to submit their clients. And you’re just looking for who most inhabits the character of who this person was. And oftentimes, it’s not someone who comes into the show as a believer. A lot of times they come into the show not actually having heard some of these stories before.

Jonathan: I spend a lot of time in prayer, considering each and every scene. I work really hard to make sure that I’m honoring Jesus at every step of the way in this story. I’ve taken great pains to protect the character in that way as well. But it is the honor of my life, so I think there’s no other way for me to go about it. He’s used the people around me to remind me that this is what we’re here to do. I think everybody knows and respects the workload that each one of us might be enduring at the moment.  

I’ve got twenty new brothers and sisters. That’s how I see it. And I love each one of them so dearly. They all bring some special, tender, heartfelt, and enigmatic moment and morsel of their own souls to their work. It’s just a joy to watch, and they’re a joy to be around.

Capturing the Truth of Jesus’ Life Through Authentic Storytelling

Shahar Isaac: I’m Shahar Isaac, I play Peter.  

Abe Bueno-Jallad: I’m Abraham Bueno-Jallad, and I play Big James.  

Shahar: Every preconceived notion of anything that I have about the world, about the character, I’m trying to erase from my mind so I’m not thinking about this as part of any scale of anything. I’m just thinking about it. The only thing for me to do is to do my job to give you, the audience, the most truthful thing to watch, to only focus on the humanity and the person, and to allow myself to go in every direction that they’re going, but without any larger context. I’m just thinking about the human being. And that changes. The human being changes every second, feels something different. And that is something that I would say is fascinating. It’s very human. We are constantly in this dynamic relationship with ourselves, with how we feel. I’m coming in ready to allow this human being to live truthfully under these circumstances. And without putting too much of myself, I want to just allow the text to influence it, allow the circumstances, the other characters [to influence it]. That’s the respect that I’m trying to give this project, to allow it to play for itself and allow it to surprise me and surprise us. 

Abe: I don’t know too many actors who take on a role and say, “Hey, I was just playing, just making a face.” At least that’s not my intention when I take on a role, I like to go to that unknown space. And so I do think that living through these circumstances, whether it’s the Bible, or you’re going from a historical perspective—to put myself in these circumstances and understand that regardless of the world that was happening around [them], this is what James believed in, this was the direction that James was going. And sometimes it was against the current of what was popular or known or believed. And so I think that one thing that I take away from James is the conviction, and the will that you have to have to stand by your convictions. I mean, for me, taking on the character has deepened my understanding of what it truly means to be convinced about what you believe. 

“One thing that I take away from [the character of] James is the conviction, and the will that you have to have to stand by your convictions. I mean, for me, taking on the character has deepened my understanding of what it truly means to be convinced about what you believe.” – Abe Bueno-Jallad 

Obviously, we deal with some pretty heavy stuff on the show, and it’s really awesome to see people support each other, because it can get really tough to do a scene where you’re angry or you’re sad, just to paint a generic picture. But for me to do it take after take after take, angle after angle, we always seem to rise up and hold each other down during those times.  

Shahar: It’s a very egoless group, you know, and everybody’s there for each other. And you realize that at certain moments, other people need to do the heavy lifting. And so on one hand, it’s a very close group of friends. On the other hand, some moments you can just have fun and bring that enjoyment to the camera and use that kind of thing as a stepping board. There’s a really beautiful dynamic where we kind of—without speaking about it—understand that at some point, if somebody else is doing the heavy lifting, we want to be respectful. We want to allow it to go the direction that it needs to go. And we want to allow the space for it and the seriousness in it. So we are really in tune with each other, making sure that we are all doing the best we can to help each other do the best job that they can, because it’s making the show better, you know?  

Dallas: And I think that an important theme of this entire show is that yes, there is sweetness. Yes, there is joy and victory and hope and all of those things, but it’s mixed in with some pain. And the Christian life and the gospel and Jesus’s life and the walk of those who chose to follow Him, it was not cute and charming and fun all the time. It was actually the opposite. Things almost got more difficult.

I think when we capture capital ‘T’ truth in this show, for millions of people around the world, I think that’s the greatest thing that I get a chance to be a part of. 

The biggest thing that I’ve learned about Jesus in doing The Chosen—because I believe that if I’m going to portray Jesus to the world, I better know Him well. And one of the things that I’ve learned more than ever over the last five, six years has been the importance of an intimate relationship with Jesus because He wants an intimate relationship with you. And in the show, you’ll see all of these moments when Jesus is calling you or healing you or rebuking you, just like in the gospels. It’s specific to your heart’s needs. He knows your specific heart. He knows your specific personality. He loves it. He created it. And so, yes, while salvation is the same for everyone—it’s one message, it’s one Savior, how He communicates that to you, how He brings you to Him or how He rebukes you—is specific to you. And that’s why you want to know His voice as much as possible, primarily through His Word, of course. 

I think it’s important to remember the difference between a TV show and the Bible. As much as we love the show and as much as we love that this show points people to Jesus, it is just a show. Jonathan Roumie is not the real Jesus. I am not God, and the show is not the Bible. And so I think to have a healthy understanding of that and to be able to experience the show as an example of putting a spotlight onto the Bible, a spotlight onto who Jesus was, to point people towards the real thing, is ultimately the goal of The Chosen and what I believe is the goal of Jesus Calling as well.  

Compassionate Jesus, 

Help me remember how safe and secure I am in You. The Bible assures me that Your Presence with me is a fact—totally independent of my feelings. Because Your death on the cross covers all my sins, I know I am on my way to heaven. Nothing can prevent me from reaching that glorious destination! There I will see You face to Face, and my Joy will be off the charts! 

I’m thankful that even in this world I am never separated from You. For now, though, I must be content with seeing You through eyes of faith. I delight in Your promise to walk with me till the end of time and onward into eternity. 

Though Your continual Presence is guaranteed, simply knowing this truth doesn’t automatically change my emotions. When I forget to focus on You, I’m vulnerable to fear, anxiety, loneliness, and other unwanted feelings. Yet I’ve found that awareness of Your Presence with me can dispel those painful feelings and replace them with Your Peace. Please train me in the discipline of walking attentively with You through each day. 

In Your calming Name, 

Amen

Narrator: To learn more about The Chosen and to watch past seasons, please visit www.thechosen.tv. 

If you’d like to hear more stories about the intersection of faith and media, check out our interview with Priscilla Shirer. 

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Next week: Mart Green

Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we’ll hear from Mart Green, the founder of Mardel Christian & Education, and the ministry investment officer for Hobby Lobby. Mart shares his journey to fully understanding how much he’s loved by God, and how he’s seeking to help others find that same sense of belonging, too. 

Mart Green: I want to encourage intimacy with God through Bible absorption and extravagant generosity. I took God’s Word seriously, and I read it as a love letter to me, not as an obligation, not because I had to. I can’t wait to get up each morning to see what God’s Word is going to say to me, because I say this book is alive.